Environmental impacts - native flora and fauna

Abstract

One of the most serious potential impacts of geothermal energy development in Hawaii is the disruption of native forests. While air pollution and groundwater impacts of geothermal development may be substantially avoided by requiring full control technologies, impacts on native forest ecosystems may only be avoided through careful siting (EPA, 1978). Siting to avoid damage to biologically valuable forest can prevent both degradation of the forest due to invasion of weed species and disturbance of native bird species due to human activity and noise.